Shared Roots the GROWING INTEREST in DEEP NETWORK SHARING

the future of wireless ISSUE 166 AUGUST 2010

featuring Healthy business: Enthusiasm for m-health services is on the up.

Message management: How operators can keep their place in mobile messaging.

Shared roots THE GROWING INTEREST IN DEEP NETWORK SHARING

OFC_MCI166.indd 1 04/08/2010 16:20 Untitled-5 1 17/5/10 14:20:22 Front

Editorial 02 Contents august10 News 04

A new wholesale mobile provider has launched in the Us. Lightsquared will combine Lte and satellite networks and is led by former orange group Ceo sanjiv Ahuja. the new player’s first order of business was to award a supply contract to nsn. Across the Atlantic the UK government has finally set out plans for the auction of 4G spectrum. Vodafone is taking its location software open source while the perceived secrecy of research in Motion’s network has led to its services being suspended in two Gulf states. there are happier 22 | network sharIng 28 | MessagIng times for sony ericsson as it continues its turnaround A number of factors have combined to the range of messaging options available with another profitable quarter.t wo carrier application bring network sharing to the centre of to the end user is growing fast, especially platform projects have pooled their resources, while operators’ strategic discussions. sharing as messaging functionality has become spain’s telefónica has succeeded in wresting control of projects are pushing deeper into the integrated into applications like social Brazilian operation Vivo from Portugal telecom. And the network, and the largest transformation networks. But rather than try to compete Israeli mobile market is to open up to MVnos, with the of two networks to a shared environment with the latest online service providers, national postal service making the first move. is nearing completion. perhaps operators should return to their roots and rediscover the potential of Analysis 12 age-old technologies like sMs. Us vendor Motorola has reached an agreement with nokia siemens networks that will see nsn take its network assets at a price of $1.2bn. the Finnish German JV looks to be more interested in the relationships that come with the business rather | Global Events 2010 than the technology. the WiMAX community has suffered another series of blows to its prospects, Broadband World Forum 2010 with the Indian BWA auction winners voicing 26-28 October, CNIT, Paris, France support for Lte and key vendors spread their bets. www.bbwf10.com/ the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel shows that Vodafone leads the way in the spanish mobile data The Broadband World Forum is the provider players, as well a wide battle. world’s largest broadband event, range of global perspectives from a unique and highly respected the most interesting international sPeCIAL FoCUs meeting place of over 6000 of the markets. With other 120 service world’s technology decision makers. provider presenters amongst over Mobile health initiatives 20 Now in its tenth anniversary year, 200 industry expert speakers, the In a world where health services often don’t exist the three four track programme is World Forum is truly the foremost in emerging markets and are overstretched in packed with operator case studies networking and learning opportunity developed ones, mobile health represents a balm, from the industry’s major service available in the Broadband industry. rather than a panacea, for lack of medical resource.

osiM world africaCom FEATURES 19 – 20th October 10 – 11th November London, UK Cape Town, South Africa network sharing 22 www.osimworld.com/ http://africa.comworldseries.com/ Messaging 28

Lte north america gsM>3g Middle east telco world 10 – 11th November summit the InFor M er Texas, USA 30th Nov – 1st December www.lteconference.com/northamerica Dubai, UAE the merging of two operator initiatives to develop 32 http://me.comworldseries.com/ application platforms should be sounding alarm bells. But does anyone really want to hear those bells ringing?

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Mobile Communications International | First for news, best for business 01

01_MCI166.indd 1 04/08/2010 15:40 EDITORIALAUGUST10 [email protected] Net beneﬁ ts

s the LTE caravan gathers bulk and Perhaps LTE is all about shifts, though. HEAD OFFICE Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, momentum, the seemingly eternal LightSquared claims to be the ﬁ rst whole- London, W1T 3JH cycle of the mobile operator comes sale 4G network operator—it will have no Tel: +44 (20) 701 75000 A Fax: +44 (20) 701 75647 round once more to network-based competi- consumer-facing offering of its own, focusing EDITORIAL tion. A new network technology represents instead on enabling any interested party to Please send all press releases to [email protected] a step up in performance; something which offer high speed mobile broadband serv- Editorial Director an operator which gets to market early will ices through its network. Could this be the Mike Hibberd Email: [email protected] try and use to its competitive advantage. beginning of the shift of the operator to the Tel: +44 (20) 701 75201 Once again, coverage and capacity become dreaded status of ‘pipe’? And if so might this Deputy Editor the carrier’s mantras. provide a better competitive advantage than James Middleton Email: [email protected] With LTE there seems to be a real differ- simply having the newest, fastest network Tel: +44 (20) 701 75257 ence of opinion, though. Some operators—LTE technology? Correspondents: pioneer TeliaSonera being the best example— It’s certainly not the sort of model that The Informer are explicit in their assertion that LTE gives would have been promoted by LightSquared’s ADVERTISING Sales Manager them the chance to outpace their competition chairman and CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja, when he Michael Butcher and prove superiority to customers. It used to was head of Orange. Back then Ahuja was Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (20) 701 75601 be the case that carriers making these kind dismissive of the notion that carriers’ service

of statements were effectively repeating the arm should be separated from their network DESIGN & PRODUCTION MANAGER assurances given them by their network sup- arm. The network represented a key competi- Joanne Lowe Email: [email protected] pliers during the sales and marketing cycle. tive advantage for Orange, he told MCI when Tel: +44 (20) 701 75604 But not all vendors seem to buy into this he was at the French ﬁ rm. MARKETING / LIST RENTAL view of LTE. One Nokia Siemens Networks LightSquared will be an important com- Head of Marketing executive I spoke to recently said that his pany to watch. The industry has long been Sophie Burdajewicz Email: [email protected] personal view is that LTE will not be a mean- tiptoeing around the issue of network as pure Tel: +44 (20) 701 75461

ingful competitive differentiator. The true wholesale play and there will be a number PUBLISHER benefi t of LTE, he said, is that it dramatically of people within the carrier community who Tim Banham Email: [email protected] reduces the cost per delivered megabyte. “I will probably want to see the model fall short. Tel: +44 (20) 701 75218 don’t think having the fastest network is Equally, though, there will be companies out SUBSCRIPTIONS/ CUSTOMER SERVICES going to attract a lot of customers; people there, you can be sure, that are just waiting CDS Global Tower House, Lathkill Street, don’t buy on speed,” he said. for someone else to make the fi rst move. If Sovereign Park, Market Harborough, It’s an interesting shift, especially from a LightSquared is successful, expect the imita- Leicestershire, LE16 9EF vendor that has recently picked up a $7bn tors to pour forth. Tel: 0870 787 6823 Email: [email protected] deal from US newcomer LightSquared to Register online at deploy, operate and maintain the fi rm’s LTE www.telecoms.com/magazine-subscription/ network, which will be integrated with its WEBSITE satellite network. www.telecoms.com

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Informa UK Ltd registered ofﬁ ce: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS All free and paid subscription enquiries should be sent to: No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in London, W1T 3JH, England. Mobile Communications International is a controlled any retrieval system or transmitted in any form electronic, CDS Global circulation Bi-monthly magazine available free to selected mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior Tower House, Lathkill Street, personnel at the publisher’s discretion. If you wish to apply permission of the publisher. Sovereign Park, for regular free copies then please register online at: Market Harborough, Mobile Communications International is audited by BPA www.telecoms.com/magazine-subscription Leicestershire, LE16 9EF Worldwide and distributed to 13,507* qualified global mobile

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02_MCI166.indd 2 04/08/2010 15:42 Changing Lives

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US 4G wholesale newcomer announces launch, awards contract to NSN

LightSquared, a debutante LightSquared will offer marketing officer at Orange. rural markets where there launch in the second half US 4G wholesale network terrestrial-only, satellite- Drew Caplan, formerly is currently no reliable of 2011 and has said it will fronted by ex-Orange only, or integrated satellite- SkyTerra’s chief network wireless communication. cover at least 100 million CEO Sanjiv Ahuja, has terrestrial coverage, will not officer, will take on the same By using satellite coverage, Americans by December 31, awarded Nokia Siemens offer a retail service and role for LightSquared. we can ensure constant 2012; 145 million by the end Networks an eight-year will not compete with its “We’re not only delivering connectivity, even if the of 2013; and 288 million by contract worth $7bn to customers, the firm has said. exciting opportunities terrestrial network is not the end of 2015. In addition deploy infrastructure for Sanjiv Ahuja, the onetime for manufacturers and available.” to the $2.9bn of assets its planned LTE/satellite head of France Teleom’s retailers, but also real LightSquared controls already contributed by combination network. Orange mobile operation, change for consumers, 59Mhz of nationwide Harbinger, LightSquared this Backed by Harbinger is in place as chairman dealers, and service spectrum in the US ‘L band’ week announced additional Capital Partners and and CEO of LightSquared, providers. We’re providing (1-2GHz), and while FCC debt and equity financing of incorporating US satellite bringing a wealth of everyone, including rules allow the company up to $1.75bn. operator SkyTerra experience with him. It is underserved communities, to use ground-based Under the agreement Communications, not clear whether he will with a fast, reliable LTE infrastructure to with NSN, the vendor will LightSquared plans to be balancing the new role experience regardless of complement its satellite provide network design, offer wireless broadband with his emerging markets where they are located in offerings, those same rules equipment manufacturing capacity to all comers, startup, Augere, however. the United States,” said dictate that devices on the and installation, and with likely customers Ahuja will be joined Ahuja. “LightSquared network must be able to network operations including retailers, fixed by Frank Boulben, head will help solve some of support both satellite and and maintenance. and wireless service of strategy, marketing, the communications LTE connectivity, which LightSquared’s nationwide providers, cable operators, and partner development and public safety issues may pose a few problems in terrestrial network will device manufacturers, and previously group we’ve seen during recent sourcing devices. consist of approximately online service providers commercial director at national disasters, as well The company is 40,000 cellular base and content providers. Vodafone and group chief as provide connectivity in anticipating commercial stations.

UK regulator announces 4G auction plans

UK communications result in the combined The UK initiative has to fees to be applied regulator Ofcom has auction of the 2.6GHz and date been hamstrung by after the initial been given the go-ahead digital dividend 800MHz operator disputes over licence term ends on to auction 4G spectrum, spectrum as well as the how the spectrum should December 31, 2021. and re-farm 2G spectrum liberalisation and re- be awarded, as well as There will also so it can be used for farming of spectrum at the recent change in UK be a “generous 3G services. However, 900MHz and 1800MHz. Government. compensation ongoing delays have put The auctions will not Under the package” to support the country behind other take place until late 2011 modernisation Programme Making Western European markets at the earliest, meaning programme, Ofcom will and Special Events and operators are unlikely that the UK will lag other also make 3G licences users (PMSE) – such to get their hands on the European nations such indefinite to encourage as musicians and attractive 2.6GHz band as Denmark, Finland, greater investment theatres, which are before 2012. Germany, Norway, the and make the licenses being evicted from the Ed Vaizey The UK’s Minister Netherlands and Sweden, tradable. Licence holders 800MHz spectrum for Communications, which have already will instead be required to they currently use contribution to the costs of Ed Vaizey, announced awarded 2.6GHz spectrum pay annual licence fees to for wireless microphones, upgrading equipment to suit in July a modernisation and—in some cases—seen reflect the market value for example. The funding a new operating frequency programme that will it in commercial use. of the licences, with the will make a significant from 2012.

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Vodafone makes location based service software open source

Vodafone group has will see new applications their share prices dive per mile. O2 responded, To put this figure announced that it will brought forth for its when Nokia announced its suggesting Garmin’s into perspective, a make its location based customers. free mapping services. In figures were somewhat total of 266,000 PNDs services software open “Given our decision a bid to hit back at mobile wide of the mark. were shipped into the source, following its to stop developing turn industry initiatives, The navigation firm UK market in the first decision to step back from by turn location based Garmin recently carried acknowledged that the cost quarter of 2010, according offering turn-by-turn services as part of our core out a test drive of the may be slightly cheaper for to industry researcher navigation services. The business, it seemed an Calais to Paris route, using a postpaid subscriber, but Canalys, the firm said, carrier acquired Swedish obvious choice to make the an Android mobile phone, the service still uses around with Skobbler’s three location firm Wayfinder code we own open source,” an O2 UK prepaid SIM and 13MB of data for a one-way week run equalling 27 for €26m in December said Pieter Knook, director O2 UK data plan, as well as trip, Garmin said. arguing per cent of all UK PND 2008 but revealed in of internet services at Google Maps Navigation. that free offerings typically shipments in the first March this year that Vodafone Group. “We The 185 mile trip cost download mapping data on quarter of 2010. Skobbler the unit would cease look forward to seeing its £36 in roaming charges the fly. has recently launched an operations in the face of continued use in all sorts one way, but could Meanwhile, German Android version of its app. competition from free of different applications in cost between £24 to developer Skobbler, which Skobbler uses solutions offeried by the the future.” £39 depending on your recently released its own community maps from likes of Nokia and Google. Competition in the provider, and between free satnav app for the OpenStreetMap (OSM), Now Vodafone is location services market £52 and £78 for the return iPhone, said the app had which already has over releasing its code in is intensifying and journey, the firm said. been downloaded more 250,000 users worldwide the hope of stimulating traditional personal Garmin worked this out than 72,000 times in dedicated to updating development from navigation players like as a cost for navigation the first three weeks of and creating a free map of independent players that Garmin and TomTom saw services of over £0.20 launch. the world.

Blackberry services suspended by Gulf states

On August 2nd, the all the BlackBerry traffic operator’s network. according to local press Telecoms Regulatory travels over RIM’s own Both UAE mobile reports, which suggested Authority for the United secure network, authorities providers, Etisalat and du that the Department of Arab Emirates (UAE) are unable to monitor data have confirmed receipt Telecommunications announced that it had in the interests of national of this instruction from (DOT) had warned RIM ordered local mobile security. the telecoms authority. its services might be operators to suspend According to the UAE Both carriers said they restricted in India BlackBerry services from regulator, BlackBerry will shortly announce unless modifications October 11, on charges services including alternative calling plans and are made allowing of breach of telecoms Messenger, email and services for their significant security services regulations. web browsing will all be BlackBerry user bases. to access local For various reasons, suspended from October At the same time subscribers’ Canadian vendor Research 11 due to non-compliance it emerged that the BlackBerry data. RIM In Motion’s (RIM) with regulatory authorities in Saudi Arabia said it: “Respects BlackBerry network has requirements. Voice, SMS will ban the use of RIM’s the regulatory long been the subject of and MMS services will instant messaging service. requirements of concerns in the region. be unaffected as they Similar moves were also goverments and the security In this instance, because are carried by the local taking place in India, and privacy of consumers.” Blackberry 8900

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Sony Ericsson continues turnaround

Handset vendor Sony price was up 31 per cent on quarter, as well as the X10 mini headcount has been Ericsson said in July that Q109 to €160. Gross margin and mini pro, which started reduced by 4,000, it had achieved its second more than doubled over shipping at the end of the leaving a workforce consecutive profitable the same period to 28 per second quarter. These phones of 7,800 at the close quarter in Q2 this year, cent, but was down three “have been well received by of the second quarter. posting net income of €12m. per cent on the first quarter operators,” he said, adding: Restructuring charges In the same quarter in 2009 of 2010. “we are now well positioned have reached €374m the firm made a loss of Sony Ericsson said the for long term growth.” to date. €213m, while in Q1 2010 the drop in unit shipments After a period in the Sony Ericsson firm recorded net profit of reflected a cull in the wilderness, during which the said that it estimated €21m. Revenues were also firm’s product portfolio. firm floundered at the high its market share up, at €1.76bn, compared to Company president Bert end of the handset market, had remained flat €1.68bn for Q209 and €1.4bn Nordberg said: “Our second Sony Ericsson appears to have during the quarter, for Q1 this year. quarter results show that regained a sense of purpose. at four per cent. The The results reflected a the company continued the A cost cutting programme latest rankings from stronger performance from momentum seen in the first initiated by the firm two Gartner put Sony the Swedish-Japanese joint quarter as a result of our years ago is now nearing its Ericsson in fifth place venture at the higher end of focus on the value market conclusion and is on target, in the global handset the market. Unit sales were an the success of new the firm said, to reduce market, behind down year on year from smartphones.” annual operating expenses Nokia, Samsung, 13.8 million to 11 million Nordberg highlighted the by €880m by the end of 2010. LG and Blackberry (up sequentially from 10.5 Xperia X10 and Vivaz, which Since the programme was manufacturer million) but average selling the firm launched in the first begun, Sony Ericsson’s global Research in Motion. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Carrier application projects formally aligned

The Wholesale CEO of France Telecom price and will receive a available to developers specification, developers Applications Community as vice chairman. The revenue share for the until November, but will have a clear path to (WAC) completed its group, which formed transaction, defined on will provide backwards deploy applications on formation as a corporate in February 2010, an operator-by-operator compatibility for devices a wider range of devices entity late in July and comprises 24 operators, basis. WAC is a not- based upon the current JIL supporting the WAC cemented its partnership accounting for over three for-profit organisation and BONDI specifications. specification in 2011, the with the Joint Innovation billion subscribers and and will receive a small Still, that puts the firm said. Lab (JIL). The company is an alliance designed transaction fee for each platform well behind It is felt that the also outlined the business to build an open application to cover its market leaders like Apple, WAC drive might have models it will pursue, platform for delivering operating costs. which already offers something to do with putting it some distance applications to all mobile Only in the future will in-app purchasing and Vodafone’s (one of behind competing phone users. WAC offer business models advertising. the platform’s biggest platforms. Initially, the WAC that enable additional Developers currently cheerleaders) decision Peters Suh, formerly platform will allow purchases from within creating JIL applications to abandon its Vodafone CEO of the JIL, will take operators to distribute an application; leverage can continue working 360 handset strategy. up the same position applications through their network capabilities, such with the existing JIL The operator has stopped at the WAC, supported respective application as location, to enhance an specification, tools and selling its 360 branded by Michel Combes, storefronts and charge application; and facilitate software libraries and handsets, so far only Vodafone’s European users through their the serving of adverts. these applications can available from Samsung, chief executive as existing phone bill. Under The initial specification be deployed on JIL based and will instead focus on chairman, and Jean- this model, developers and components of devices immediately. With pushing 360 as a suite of Philippe Vanot, deputy will set the application its SDK will not be the publication of the WAC services and applications.

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Telefónica finally succeeds in bid for Vivo

Spanish carrier Telefónica for a deal to go ahead. in the lucrative Sao markets as well. WiMAX according to Informa’s has reached an agreement The deal is expected to Paulo market by offering could be an option for last WCIS. TIM had 43.7 million with Portugal Telecom total around €7.5bn, convergent services mile networks in this case users while Claro had 46.9 over the acquisition a further increase on and will also be able to and the small and medium million and Vivo had 55.8 of Brazilian operator the original offer of strengthen its presence business market should be million. Vivo. The deal had €5.7bn, underscoring the outside Brazil’s region III. a primary target. It is very “Portugal Telecom will been threatened by the importance of the stake to “The Spanish operator likely that competition need to find an alternative Portuguese Goverment’s Telefónica. has convergent services in in regions I and II will to keep operations in decision to exercise its Telefonica’s acquisition almost all of its markets increase after the Brazil, as the country “golden share” rights, and of Vivo is likely to have apart from Brazil, the acquisition,” he said. has a very significant attempt to overrule the a significant impact on most important one, Meanwhile, Portugal share of the group’s total majority vote in favour the Brazilian market, where it was unable Telecom, to which the revenue,” said Puschel. of the sale of a stake in most notably giving the to fully offer fixed and Brazilian market is “That opens possibilities Vivo parent Brasilcel that company the platform mobile services,” Puschel extremely important, was of new acquisitions in the occurred at a general it needs to launch said. “I believe that the reported immediately country such as shares shareholders’ meeting convergent services. acquisition will accelerate to be refocusing its at Oi or even Tim Brasil. in July. According to Julio Puschel, Telefónica’s strategy to attentions on a stake in If that really happens, However the European head of mobile operator launch fixed services Vivo competitor Telemar the Brazilian mobile Court of Justice ruled strategy at Informa outside Sao Paulo state. PCS, which operates market will become even that the Portuguese Telecoms & Media, As Vivo has national under the Oi brand. Oi more competitive with Government’s use of Telefónica will now be in a coverage, it makes sense is the smallest of the groups making significant the golden share was stronger position to keep for Telefónica to bring leading players, with 42.3 investment to gain market unlawful, clearing the way its leadership position fixed service to these million users at end June, share.

Israel prepares to open up market to virtual network operators

outlets and has charged Orange, Pelephone and existing distributors of Effortel with defining iDen operator MIRS. prepaid mobile top-ups the market proposition, Cellcom leads the via its retail network, and business planning and market with 4.6 million established relationships modelling as well as subscribers at the end of with customers through identifying a suitable June 2010, followed by its postal and banking technology platform Partner Communications services. and choosing a network with 3.1 million, Pelephone Effortel currently partner. with 2.8 million and MIRS centrally manages seven So far, only a with 378,000. MVNOs on its platform— handful of companies, Israel Post’s move into three MVNOs in a joint including Telecom 365, the mobile arena follows venture with Carrefour a subsidiary of local the local Government’s (Carrefour Mobile Belgium, Israel is preparing it had contracted Belgian retail group Hamashbir, decision earlier this year Carrefour Uno Mobile to welcome its first MVNO enabler Effortel to have been awarded MVNO to issue MVNO licences Italy and Carrefour MVNOs after publishing project manage its launch. licenses and, at the time of to stimulate competition Telecom Taiwan), as well regulations allowing local The Israel Post plans press, none had reached and innovation in the as providing services to operators to host service to launch mobile services a hosting agreement with sector. The company is Carrefour Mobile Mova and providers. In late July the through its network of any of Israel’s mobile banking on its position FM Group Mobile in Poland, Israeli post office said that more than 700 retail operators, Cellcom, as one of the largest and Daily Telecom in Italy.

04-10_MCI166.indd 10 04/08/2010 15:44 Upcoming webinars for September 2010

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00_MCI166_webinartelecoms.com.indd 1 06/08/2010 10:52 NEWS AnAlysIs [email protected]

Motorola submits to Nokia Siemens overtures

The last of the big North American wireless infrastructure vendors of the deal to come in the US and Japan, where it has not is to exit the market through a sale to Nokia Siemens Networks. previously had a particularly strong position. China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone were all name-checked by NSN as organisations with which its relationship would deepen as a result of the purchase. nfrastructure vendor Nokia Siemens Networks The firm added that the absorption of Motorola’s business announced in July that it is to acquire network would give it the third place in the US infrastructure market, Iinfrastructure assets from US competitor Motorola for the first place among foreign vendors in Japan and enable it to $1.2bn. The Finnish-German joint venture said that it expects maintain its second place position globally, in revenue terms. to gain new relationships with 50 wireless carriers and The firm’s headcount will swell, with some 7,500 Motorola strengthen existing commercial ties as a result of the deal, employees expected to move to NSN as part of the deal, which the two firms expect to close before the end of 2010. including staff at large R&D sites in the US, China and India. Motorola’s networks portfolio caters to a range of As the wireless infrastructure market has continued to technologies, from GSM and CDMA, through WCDMA to shrink it has become apparent that the further consolidation WiMAX and LTE. The US vendor will be keeping hold of its among the vendor community is both necessary and iDEN business, however, and will also retain “substantially inevitable. Nokia Siemens was beaten to Nortel’s assets by all the patents related to its wireless network infrastructure Ericsson late last year and that may have something to do business and other selected assets,” the firms said. with the firm’s resolve to get hold of Motorola’s business. Motorola is one of the leading backers of the floundering But Nokia Siemens stands, alongside Alcatel Lucent, as a WiMAX standard, with 41 contracts in 21 countries, while testament to the difficulty inherent in bringing different its CDMA footprint runs to 30 networks in 22 countries. The organisations together under a single management benefits of these elements of the portfolio for NSN are most structure. Both of these firms have endured troubled times likely to revolve around forthcoming technology decisions as they have sought to integrate their disparate parts and from the operators involved, as both CDMA and WiMAX are derive real benefits from their increased scale. now seen as having limited futures. Julian Bright, senior analyst at Informa said that, while the deal makes sense in light of NSN’s need to be more aggressive in the market, it would likely bring with it fresh NSN is betting on the need for the challenges. “NSN struggled with the original merger of technologies in which Motorola specialised to the two companies and the integration with Motorola will probably add to its woes,” Bright said. be swapped out in the near term “The new entity represents a tough mix of nationalities, with the combination of US, German and Finnish cultures. While there are opportunities for the merger to enable the The evolutionary roadmap for CDMA is at its end and creation of more integrated solutions such as Single RAN, leading operators of the technology are in the midst of high NSN first needs to overcome the problems associated with profile moves to deploy LTE. Meanwhile WiMAX has struggled integrating a new vendor’s RAN equipment with its own to gain traction, with some of the technology’s most high existing core network, backhaul, network and subscriber profile supporters publicly embracing the rival 4G technology management products,” he added. as well. The deal marks the end of an era for the home-grown North NSN itself pulled away from WiMAX last year and has never American wireless infrastructure business. With Lucent gone had a foothold in the CDMA networks business. Indeed the into its joint venture with Alcatel, and Nortel divided between a firm seems primarily interested in the carrier relationships number of purchasers, Motorola was the last representative of a that come with the Motorola networks business, rather than once groundbreaking triumvirate. It could be reasonably argued the technology supplied to those carriers. There is clearly that all three paid the price to a degree for the North American a hope within NSN that, when upgrades and technology decision to explore separate technological paths from much switches take place, those relationships will improve the of the rest of the world, with Motorola’s dedication to WiMAX firm’s chances of winning business. perhaps the final evidence of what proved a flawed policy. In a sense NSN is betting on the shortcomings of key What happens to Motorola now remains to be seen. It elements of the Motorola infrastructure portfolio; on the is possible, says Julian Bright, that it could go the same need for the technologies in which Motorola specialised to way as Nortel, selling itself off piecemeal. “The deal could be swapped out in the near term. accelerate the breakup of Motorola, with buyers circling for “As customers look to transition from CDMA networks to its handset and enterprise businesses,” he said. next generation technologies, the addition of the Motorola Nokia Siemens has bought itself a potential route to wireless network infrastructure business is targeted to ensure market for carriers looking to join a global standard but, that we are well placed to meet those needs,” said Bosco if it finds itself waylaid by the significant difficulties of Novak, head of customer operations at Nokia Siemens. integrating yet another organisation into its own, that Geographically, NSN said it expected the main benefits strategic advantage could be nullified. n

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12-18_MCI166.indd 12 04/08/2010 15:49 mipcom.indd 1 21/07/2010 16:31 NEWS AnAlysIs [email protected]

Last mile or last legs?

The WiMAX community has been dealt further blows, as winners spectrum, Infotel Broadband Services, was announced in the Indian BWA auction pledge their future to TD-LTE and key shortly after the auction concluded as the target of an acquisition by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), headed standard bearers rethink their singleminded approaches. by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani. In the wake of the takeover announcement, RIL revealed its plans to launch an LTE service using the spectrum acquired by he Indian Broadband Wireless Access auction, which Infotel, through a strategy of partnership and network was completed at the end of June, was a significant sharing. The firm pledged to “leapfrog India to the 4G Tevent for backers of the WiMAX standard. Those revolution.” backers had seen the auction as an opportunity for WiMAX It made for bleak news at the WiMAX Forum, which issued to gain a foothold in a huge market with an urgent need for a plea to Indian BWA spectrum winners to push ahead with widespread broadband rollout. their technology immediately, rather than wait for LTE. India was so slow to allocate 3G spectrum, after all (the “WiMAX is ready for Indian operators to deploy now,” said Indian 3G auction was concluded just weeks before the BWA Ron Resnick, chairman of the WiMAX Forum, “Only nine equivalent), that advanced cellular standards had not had a million citizens throughout India have access to broadband, chance to establish a lead. It made for the most level playing but within six months WiMAX networks and services could field imaginable for WiMAX. be deployed and commercially available—helping the Indian Early indications in the wake of the auction, though, government to pursue an accelerated path to achieve and suggested another disappointment for the WiMAX exceed their goal of connecting more than 100 million community. Top of the list of spoilers was Qualcomm, a broadband users by 2014.” long-time detractor of the standard. The silicon vendor and At the Forum’s Global Congress event in June potential intellectual property warehouse won 20MHz of spectrum in WiMAX investors and operators were seeking assurances each of the Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana operating that the technology could be comfortably migrated to LTE areas. The firm spent $1.045bn on the spectrum, and said at some point in the future, suggesting that even those that it would look to establish LTE networks in the four players interested in WiMAX are viewing it essentially as a regions in partnership with local players, eventually exiting stop-gap option. the operations. Such requirements from operators are now being reflected in the strategies of the most die-hard WiMAX- The growing enthusiasm worldwide for supporting vendors. One such is Israeli infrastructure TD-LTE is not good news for the WiMAX vendor Alvarion, a company that bills itself as a “founder of the WiMAX industry,” which said in July that is to start sector. Indeed, TD-LTE has surprised a manufacturing TD-LTE kit. number of industry commentators by the Alvarion said that it expects to engage in TD-LTE field trials in the first quarter of 2011 and will incorporate TD-LTE level of support it is winning support into its 4Motion infrastructure portfolio. Eran Gorev, president and CEO, was at pains to point out that the company will continue to actively Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs made no secret of the fact drive WiMAX standardization activities, ecosystem that the move was designed to block opportunities for development and product delivery. But he added: “The WiMAX. Speaking at the firm’s Uplinq developer gathering trend in wireless spectrum availability around the globe in San Diego early in July, Jacobs revealed the concerns that supports the fact that unpaired TDD spectrum will have led him to bid in India. an even greater role to play for broadband wireless “I really believe that [the BWA] spectrum was all headed deployments in the future.” for WiMAX,” he said. “Our big bet is on LTE and we wanted to The growing enthusiasm worldwide for TD-LTE is not good make sure that there was a place for LTE in India. We were news for the WiMAX sector. Indeed, TD-LTE has surprised a concerned that if both of those bands had gone to WiMAX it number of industry commentators by the level of support would have helped to reinvigorate that ecosystem,” he said. it is winning. Stéphane Téral, directing analyst at Infonetics Jacobs said that there are no other markets or regions Research, explains: “One year ago it was not clear that where Qualcomm’s management feels motivated to make TD-LTE had a future, until China Mobile confirmed it was similar strategic spectrum purchases—suggesting that it moving away from 3G (TD-SCDMA) anyway. But now other sees nowhere else offering meaningful potential for WiMAX. operators outside of China are looking at TD-LTE technology The size and growth potential of the Indian market made it and finding some potential,” Téral says. “If you are a mobile unique, he said, especially when the relative paucity of the operator that is challenging an incumbent you may well spectrum auctioned by the Indian Government was taken not have paired spectrum, and if you want to upgrade into account. unpaired spectrum onto LTE then TDD looks like a very But perhaps Jacobs needn’t have worried. The only good proposition. So now there is a clear case for TD-LTE auction participant to win 20MHz of nationwide Indian everywhere in the world.” n

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Untitled-4 1 20/07/2010 16:39 NEWS AnAlysIs [email protected]

Vodafone leads in Spanish mobile web

In the latest data supplied exclusively to MCI and Telecoms.com by market survey shows. Figures for this year give Vodafone research firm Kantar Worldpanel, Vodafone’s leadership in advanced a contract ARPU of €30.23, compared to Orange on €27.70 and Telefónica (Movistar) on €28.08. services in Spain is made clear. Vodafone also leads the way in prepaid ARPU with €19.76 compared to €18.15 for Orange and €16.93 nly 3.7 per cent of the Spanish bills/airtime, source of purchase, phone usage for Telefónica. population has browsed the internet on and handset features. Vodafone is benefiting from a younger Otheir mobile phone but those consumers The latest data shows that Vodafone has subscriber base, with 43.1 per cent of its customers who have done so are spending 30 per cent the highest percentage of customers using the in the 16 – 34 year-old age group. The average more than the average Spanish mobile user. most advanced services, consistently above the across all networks is 36.5 per cent, with Telefónica And of the operators vying for that business in average. Seven per cent of the firm’s Spanish having 32.8 per cent and Orange 38.2 per cent. Spain, Vodafone is leading the pack. The findings customers have used their phones for internet However, the survey data shows that, even among come from data supplied exclusively to MCI browsing and downloading and sending pictures. this age group, Vodafone enjoys a significant lead and Telecoms.com from Kantar Worldpanel’s Eight per cent have used it to play games, while over its competitors in terms of non-voice service ComTech survey. 11 percent have used their phone to make videos. usage. A higher proportion of advanced handsets Kantar’s ComTech consumer tracking panel Music has proven the most popular service among among Vodafone’s 16 – 34 year-old age group is a conducts more than two million consumer the carrier’s customers, with 15 per cent of them key factor in this, the survey data suggests. 69 per interviews across 11 key mobile markets each using their phone to listen to music. cent of Vodafone’s customers in this demographic year, gaining insight into mobile phone behaviour, Vodafone’s relative success with non-voice have a 3G handset compared to 48 per cent for including purchasing of phones, mobile phone services is reflected in its ARPU, the ComTech Telefónica and 59 per cent for Orange. n

Handset feature penetration evolution (%) Percentage point growth of most popular features, Jan ‘10 vs Jan ‘09

100 INTERNET 12 90 CAMERA 10,5 EMAIL 80 10 9,6 9,0 BLUETOOTH 70 8,4 7,8 MP3 8 60

RADIO 50 6 5,7 3G 5,5 5,5 5,4

40 SMARTPHONE 4 Wi-FI 30

TOUCHPHONE 20 2 GPS 10 0 0 Radio Touchphone GPS GPS Wi-Fi Email Smartphone Bluetooth MP3 January 2007 January 2008 January 2009 January 2010

Percentage of owners who used built in features Dec ‘09 to Mar ‘10 Mobile internet users by age and gender

15 7 65+ years old 23 68 19 83 84 81 50-64 years old 31 93 98 91 50 31 Didn’t use feature 30 32 35-49 years old Women

25-34 years old Men Used feature 32 22 20 17 16 19 50 69 7 9 20-24 years old 2 7 16 7 3G MP3 Radio Camera Email GPS Wi-Fi 16-19 years old Total mobile Internet mobile Total mobile Internet mobile Internet Listening Listening Taking Sending Using GPS Internet users users users users Usage: navigation to music to radio pictures receiving navigation emails

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12-18_MCI166.indd 16 04/08/2010 15:49 MCI166_NigeriaCom-AfricaCom.indd 1 27/07/2010 15:16 NEWS AnAlysIs [email protected]

Service use Dec ‘09 - Mar ‘10, percentage of users by network Age breakdown by carrier

12 12 11 11 56,9 63,5 61,8 8 67,2 8 6 7 7 6 6 6 5 6 6 5 5 5 5

43,1 36,5 32,8 38,2 Internet & downloading Sending pictures Making videos Listening to music Games

All networks Movistar Orange Vodafone

Movistar Orange Vodafone Sending Total Movistar Orange Vodafone Network Contract ARPU 28,08 27,70 30,23 Prepay ARPU 16,93 18,15 19,76 16-34 y.o +35 y.o

Service use amoung 16-34 yo percentage of users by network, Dec ‘09 - Mar ’10 Handset features amoung 16-34 yo by network (%)

24 21 21 68 20 58 59 16 48 13 14 11 12 38 36 9 9 30 33 31 8 8 7 9 8 26 26 26 6 22 5 4 5 15 17 17

Internet & downloading Sending pictures Making videos Listening to music Games 3G Smartphone Touchphone WiFi

All networks Movistar Orange Vodafone All Networks Movistrar Orange Vodafone

Join the debate “Terrorists are thumping all across India taking innocent lives and it “Tiered pricing will enable Wimax to survive and thrive... Simple is in national interest of India to have capability to intercept what it networks without sim cards will emerge and and offer fl at rate may deem necessary to avoid other extremists attacks. Being said that if profi table networks with consumers using virtual numbers.” RIM wants to do business in India, they ought to play by Indian laid John, on the end of fl at rate tariffs rules or simply get out of there.” Jolly, on the UAE, Saudi Arabia and India’s decision to restrict “The real advantage of LTE is still on paper. That advantage by the way BlackBerry services is simply that the larger carriers claim they will move that direction. It is not a technology advantage so much as it is “if you want to roam” “As Apple have demonstrated while traditional manufacturers slept, the you will need LTE. But if you want to use high speed data today, your model for an app store is not to make the store a stand-alone fi nancial only real choice is WiMAX.” success, but to support uptake of the handsets.” Paddy O’Martin, on the need for a migration path to LTE for all operators pc, on the app store market opportunity being overhyped

Have your say. Join the debate on telecoms.com at www.telecoms.com/join-the-debate

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12-18_MCI166.indd 18 04/08/2010 15:49 mipcom.indd 1 21/07/2010 16:19 feature M-health

Keeping the doctor away

In a world where health services often don’t exist in emerging markets and are overstretched in developed ones, mobile health represents a balm, rather than a panacea, for lack of medical resource.

By James Middleton

he subject of health is never far from compelling business cases. Yet most are still survey from management consultancy McK- the headlines both in the emerging mar- in the pilot phase of deployment, awaiting insey & Company pegs the value of the global Tkets, where services and infrastructure widespread take-up. Why is this the case? Well, mobile healthcare market at between $50bn can be dangerously scarce, and in developed one large and unsurprising barrier is budget- and $60bn in 2010, with opportunities worth nations where resources are increasingly ary constraints. But more significantly, there $20bn in the US alone. overstretched. In many countries it is a sec- is substantial resistance to change within the To gauge consumer demand for m-health tor for which the future does not hold much healthcare sector itself—it is one of the last services, McKinsey conducted a global market promise in terms of additional funding and big verticals to be touched by automation. survey of 3,000 consumers in six countries resources—and for many people it is fast Some of the resistance is based on risk (500 each in Brazil, USA, Germany, South becoming evident that national health serv- aversion—the fear of what harm these new Africa, India and China), with findings indicat- ices cannot deliver all the care that’s needed. technologies might do to patient-data privacy ing that a large proportion of the four billion For those of us lucky enough to live in or patient health itself. But there is also re- people using mobile phones today struggle to wealthy societies with access to decent sistance based on vested interests—on the gain access to good quality and affordable healthcare services, there is a serious con- fear that new technology might make certain healthcare, both in emerging markets and cern that, in the not too distant future, the tasks or jobs performed by humans redundant. more developed societies. cost of care will rise to unaffordable levels. This is despite the fact that health services Obviously, the problem is exacerbated in the To make matters worse, regions like Europe are overstretched already, and demand is developing world. A telling statistic, revealed with ageing populations face the very real risk still increasing. by Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Group and of not having enough carers to look after the Resistance to change is a very human keynote speaker at the Mobile Healthcare sick. According to figures from O2’s recently condition and, in the case of healthcare, that Industry Summit, is that although there are launched healthcare unit, global healthcare resistance is harder to fight in countries where more than 2.3 billion mobile subscriptions in spend is running at a 5.5 per cent increase there is a well established health industry. the developing world, there are only 11 million year on year. If that trend continues, by 2080 So it is in emerging markets, where many hospital beds and 300 million computers. 40 per cent of global GDP will be spent on areas lack even the most basic healthcare So it makes sense to use mobile as a foun- healthcare, which means no one will be able infrastructure, that the first opportunities may dation. Dr Adesina Iluyemi, co-founder of to afford it. arise. A large void is waiting to be filled—with SinseProd, a UK-registered social enterprise The communications industry touches more no legacy institutions obstinately clinging to company stimulating technological innova- lives than most and it is uniquely positioned to old ways. According to the analysts, it is in tions and investments into Africa, believes help develop new ways of looking at healthcare. these countries that operators can actually that, because low access to power stops crucial At the inaugural Mobile Healthcare Industry spearhead the provision of frontline health medical devices being used in certain regions Summit hosted by Informa Telecoms & Media services in the same way they are doing with in Africa, mobile phone connectivity is a more in London in December 2009, it emerged that banking and digital-money services. realistic platform for healthcare delivery. there are plenty of apparently robust mobile- The nascent m-health sector is certainly “We are talking about technology obsoles- health “solutions” out there supported by ripe with potential. A recent global market cence, devices that were phased out 30 years

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20-21_MCI166.indd 20 04/08/2010 15:51 M-health feature

ago,” he said. “To get a vendor to retro fit parts to an old medical machine would cost ten times Key m-health sectors more than it would cost to buy a new machine, Phone Doctor call to speak with a qualified physician for remote diagnosis & advice when even a new machine is not affordable.” Drug Delivery customers order medications over the phone for last mile delivery of authentic According to Iluyemi, even in South Africa, drugs within 24 hours the most economically advanced country in Health Watch a SIM embedded biosensor watch that monitors vitals, and is connected to the African region, an estimated 50 per cent emergency services of medical devices are useless. “There are no Med Reminder customers receive periodic SMS reminders to follow a prescribed medication routine standards and there is nowhere to plug these Source: McKinsey & Company devices in, because only 20 per cent of Africa has access to a national power grid. These devices are power hungry, they are not green, they are big, they are not mobile, and to solve 90 per cent of the population’s difficulties we have to use mobile.” Iluyemi has a point that is supported by McKinsey’s research, which found that almost 70 per cent of respondents were extremely or very interested in at least one m-health product, with Indian and South African consumers showing the highest levels of interest (40-60 per cent across all products). Willingness to pay for such services was also surprisingly exercises and sends info back to the hospital For Orange, health is one of three new areas high for several products across geographies, to make sure they are being done correctly. of business growth, alongside audience and with Indian customers willing to pay ten But this is not to say that mobile applications advertising and content. The operator has iden- times their standard airtime rates, and US will replace an MRI scanner. Accurate readings tified a market opportunity in the healthcare consumers 20 times standard airtime rates, to are still needed, especially in serious cases, but sector based on three key factors: healthcare be able to speak to a doctor via PhoneDoctor. SinseProd’s Iluyemi argues that the industry expenditure is unsustainably allocated to Brazilian and Chinese consumers meanwhile needs to consider extending some medical tech- chronic disease treatment; populations are were willing to pay the equivalent of a new nology to processes that are not blood-based, like ageing, particularly in France, adding to the mobile phone subscription for the patient saliva tests, where a fridge or adequate storage burden on resource; and there is a fundamental monitoring system HealthWatch. is not needed to preserve the sample. shift occurring in the approach to care by both The product names—PhoneDoctor and So by moving and shifting existing technol- patients and doctors that crucially depends on HealthWatch—and the very concept of elec- ogies to a new environment, O2’s Nurcombe new ways to manage information. tronically delivered health services have a claims that health can and will be a key of- As an integrated operator, with both fixed somewhat futuristic connotation but this fering from Telefónica—and he’s not alone in and mobile operations, Orange sees itself as a is reality rather than science fiction. Keith this attitude. It may well be coincidence, but natural player to connect the various domains of Nurcombe, head of O2 UK’s recently launched during July, there were no fewer than four the healthcare ecosystem—from pharmaceuti- health unit, said that the technology itself ex- mobile health offerings launched. cal companies and hospitals to subscribers and ists today but most people are unaware of it. Telefónica’s new unit will build on the car- patients—and puts this role of “intermediary” “It’s very much not tomorrow’s world. It’s here rier’s existing efforts in m-health including the squarely at the centre of its strategic goal to be now. We’re just joining a handful of existing creation of the Living Lab R&D department in a European leader in e-health. technologies from other sectors together to Granada in 2005, with products and services The brand may well be of core importance create the offering. None of this is particularly based on converging communications, managed to the success of this strategy because trust is expensive technology, it’s just redeployed in web services with point-to-point coverage and essential, and given that operators and services a different way,” he said. a pay-per-use policy, and a model that provides providers already have a billing relationship With m-health, the focus is on prevention economies of scale to extend applications with and a cache of sensitive data on their custom- rather than cure, on health rather than ill- a minimum outlay on technology. ers, the foundations are already there. ness. It’s an initiative facilitated by wearable Orange also joined the movement with “We need to deliver these solutions with devices and self measurement, and often in- Smartnumbers, a healthcare specific service credibility, which means we recognise that we volves taking some ideas from the sports field that gives callers instant access to the best are moving into a new market,” said O2’s Nur- and making them mass market. O2 Health has placed medical professional or team avail- combe. “Our approach is very much crawl, walk, a service called Home Physio trialling in the able, providing patients and workers with the run, so we can demonstrate our credibility and UK and already in commercial use in Spain, ability to reach the right person the first time gain trust. We’ve got to be able to demonstrate which offers home-based physiotherapy us- they call. Meanwhile, Vodafone, a founding that we have a right to enter this new market. ing sensors that fit on the body and a touch member of the m-Health Alliance, already We’ll only get one bite of this cherry so we have screen PC, which shows patients how to do has an m-health initiative up and running. to get it right first time,” he said.n

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20-21_MCI166.indd 21 04/08/2010 15:51 feature network sharIng

Betting on shares

A number of factors have combined to bring network sharing to the centre of operators’ strategic discussions. Sharing projects are pushing deeper into the network, and the largest transformation of two networks to a shared environment is nearing completion. By Mike Hibberd

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here has been a good deal of debate of late as to by mobile data. Now it’s all about desperately scrambling whether or not the commercial arrival of LTE will to get capacity into the network.” Therald the return of the network to the status of key The other reason that network sharing has earned competitive differentiator. During the past decade carrier greater prominence recently is the fact that the trans- psychology evolved and the network, in developed markets formational project that has seen the networks of 3UK at least, began to take second place to other elements of and T-Mobile UK painstakingly combined in a deep RAN the offering—brand, market positioning, content and share is finally nearing its conclusion. The two firms set service mix—in the efforts of the operators to distinguish up Mobile Broadband Network Ltd (MBNL) in December themselves from their peers. 2007 to oversee the merging of their two networks and The big fear for operators was—and is—that they might in just a matter of weeks—a few months short of three end up relegated to the role of transport provider. And the years since launch—MBNL will have succeeded in creat- network is the huge, expensive, physical embodiment of ing a joint network comprising 12,400 active shared sites. that undesirable outcome. Those involved in the project describe it as monumental, More recently, though, we’ve seen evidence of a shift a world first. They claim it more than answers the sceptics back to a network-centric view of the world among op- who said such a transformation—an order of magnitude erators. When Nordic player TeliaSonera became the first more complex than a shared deployment conceived as operator to launch a commercial LTE offering in Stockholm such from the outset—could not be done. And they fully and Oslo late last year, it was in a bid to demonstrate expect other carriers to look to implement similar projects prowess and leadership in the network, said Håkan Dahl- of their own, where achievable. ström, the firm’s president of mobility services. “LTE gives Not everyone’s gung-ho, though, and a good number us the opportunity to give our customers high quality of carriers remain focused less on what they might gain access, and to really prove to our customers that going through an active network share than what they might with TeliaSonera is a future-proven choice,” he told MCI. lose. Perhaps the most often cited fear surrounds network A couple of months before this conversation, Matthew integrity. “Carriers worry about how much information Key, head of Telefónica Europe described the network leakage there will be from one operator to another,” says as the “crown jewels of the customer experience” while Sharad Sharma, a consultant at Coleago Consulting, a discussing the progress of the passive network sharing specialist telecoms consultancy that has worked on a arrangement the firm has in place with Vodafone. He number of network sharing deals. was at pains to point out that the passive share was an “If you’re sharing the RAN you might be worried about economic necessity, and not a value judgement on the the competitive advantage of your marketing data, or the competitive collateral of the network. volume of traffic you’re generating; that sort of confidential If carriers are beginning to look to the network as a information,” Sharma says. Another potential concern is the differentiator once more, then the timing coincides with a level of independence that sharing carriers retain should growing enthusiasm for something which has historically they want to launch differentiating services. And then been cited as evidence that the network was becoming there’s the issue of the network as competitive advantage. commoditised; network sharing. Up for discussion is not These fears have to be weighed against the benefits, the kind of passive share Key was talking about, which say the advocates of network sharing. When the MBNL involves collaborating on land and towers in a bid to project was first announced, the parent firms said they bypass the huge cost and logistical headaches of site would be looking to reap savings of £2bn over ten years. acquisition. Instead the focus is on a rather more literal Chris Woodland, an associate partner at KPMG, who has interpretation of the phrase; multiple operators using worked on “some of Europe’s leading RAN share deals” a single radio access network to deliver separate com- backs that number. mercial services. “You can clear that sort of value even after you’ve There are a number of reasons for this and, as always, included integration and restructuring costs and decom- money sits right at the top. From next year LTE deploy- missioning costs. It’s a good one third of RAN operating ments are expected to begin in earnest and the costs of costs per carrier,” he says. “And this is before any future deploying a new network, rather than another round of capex spend you might have to make. There are quite a software upgrades, are looking ominous to many operators. lot of avoided costs with network sharing.” If those costs can be shared with a partner, and a network Woodland adds that the network performance improves jointly deployed, it should mean quicker deployment and in terms of capacity and coverage, creating a better cus- quicker coverage spread. tomer offering and that there are environmental benefits LTE deployment cannot be viewed in isolation from derived from the reduced physical footprint of the network the capacity crunch that has been the industry’s defin- and the reduction in power requirements. “When you look ing recent trend and network sharing is increasingly at that in the round,” he says, “you’ve got reduced cost, viewed as an effective way of beefing up capacity in an improved customer service and an environmental benefit. economic and efficient way. The problem is summed up It begins to look like a no-brainer.” unsentimentally by Neil Coleman, product management But while the likes of Sharma and Woodland are in director at Actix: “This nice, comfortable model—get a bit favour of network sharing as a strategy, they—along with of spectrum, sell a bit of voice—has been blown to pieces those involved in the MBNL project, and anyone else you »

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at where the other partner is getting a leg up and start to feel jealous—and then it will fail. “You have to go into it with parent companies who are confident that the benefit they get is good enough for them and who understand that the other partner has to get a benefit as well. So you can’t be spiteful about things like this, you have to be absolutely willing to work together on the network while remaining competitors in the market,” he says. Such an understanding has been in place between 3UK and T-Mobile since the start of the It is not the case that any two carriers contract, Payne says, although he concedes that during the negotiations prior to the contract within a given market will make successful being signed, there were some “heated times”. network sharing partners and there are Any project of this scale will throw up surprises and require a certain amount of ad- more than a few instances where projects justment, and perhaps even improvisation. But as far as is possible, operational details and have been abandoned commercial principals have to be nailed down during the negotiation phase, says KPMG’s Chris Woodland. “What happens if one party’s technological roadmap is different from the care to ask—stress just how complex the other party’s?” he says. “What happens when creation of a network share can be. If it’s not one operator wants to launch a service that done properly, they say, it could easily turn the other operator doesn’t want to launch?” very sour indeed. It is vital that network sharing partners try Bradley Mead is vice president for services to pre-empt any challenges that are inherent at Ericsson UK, the outsourcing partner for in the project ahead of the project beginning. MBNL, and has been closely involved in the The decision also has to be taken as to how project since the outsourcing deal was inked the new shared network will be administered. in November 2008. Ericsson also has a wider There seems to be almost universal agreement managed services deal with 3UK. “You do have that the creation of a third party organisation to have some empathy for the risk involved in like MBNL is the most satisfactory way to go this sort of activity,” Mead says. “It’s a complex about it. A third party organisation, even if it transition, even though it’s planned activity. is created from teams that come from each of I can understand why operators are nervous the parent companies, can develop an identity about taking that risk in the highly competi- of its own, and be seen as independent of the tive environment of today; it’s something you parents in terms of the job it has to do; create shouldn’t enter into lightly.” and run a network that serves both owners. A network share is a relationship and, like There is an alternative to the joint venture, any relationship, it requires compatibility, says Mark Nield, head of business transforma- commitment and effort; it can very easily go tion for Western Europe at Nokia Siemens Net- off the rails. Wtih this in mind, it is impossible works, giving an indication as to future business to attach too much significance, say those models the vendor might be chasing. “There is with experience, to the process of finding a another way to do this, which is an organisa- suitable partner. It is not the case that any tion that is at arm’s length from the parents. two carriers within a given market will make We believe that a consortium of a vendor and successful network sharing partners and there a towers partners could provide the network are more than a few instances where projects entirely independent of the network operators.” have been abandoned. Vendors have historically been quite wary “The operators have to want to work to- of speaking about such direct network owner- gether,” says Graham Payne, managing direc- ship but, even in the case of an MBNL-style tor of MBNL, the man to whom responsibility joint venture, outsourcing to a managed for the success of the T-Mobile/3UK network services vendor seems a logical extension of sharing project ultimately falls. “It’s easy to the network sharing business model. Some look at where you’re getting a leg up, and look suggest that the vendor which is most »

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22-26_MCI166.indd 24 04/08/2010 16:02 connecting the world enabling value

BICS delivers class-leading solutions for Voice, Messaging, Roaming, Connectivity and Mobile Financial Services to its globally spread communication partners, who are active as wireless, wireline and service providers. Through our passionate and creative teams located in Brussels, Bern, Dubai, Singapore and New York, we continuously strive to provide our customers with the highest levels of quality, reliability and interoperability to enable them to maximise End-user value. Our innovative approach is visible through our place at the forefront of the market consolidation and technology advancement. We hold a joint venture with Swisscom ICS and MTN ICS, and have developed transformative Next Generation Networks (NGN). This together with our continued focus on Value Added Services for Mobile Operators has enabled us to reach our world-leading position both on the International Voice and Mobile Data markets.

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prominent in the parents’ networks should Merging two mature mobile be insurmountable but the end is now almost be the likely choice for managed services within touching distance. Those involved are partner but not everyone agrees. MBNL uses networks is a hugely claiming much improved network coverage Nokia Siemens kit, for example, but selected and performance of the combined network Ericsson as the managed services provider. disruptive task and it is and offer reassurances that the kind of What does seem clear is that, while a multi- concerns that might be worrying operators vendor environment in the network need not pretty much guaranteed thinking about embarking on something be a deal-breaker for network sharing projects, that some of the pain is similar are unnecessary. a single vendor environment makes things a Despite the depth of their share, T-Mobile lot simpler. When MBNL began its project, going to be passed on to and 3UK actually have different call drop rates, says Graham Payne, 3UK had NEC kit in place. different set up rates and network availability. This was swapped out for Nokia Siemens the end users And under the contract that was established Networks, partly because of NSN’s superior they each have the right and ability to enter roadmap, he says, partly because NSN made into unilateral network deployments. If they do, its pricing attractive and partly because Payne ing and what the likely disruption would be. of course, they immediately lose the benefits wanted a single vendor network. Watching from MBNL, Graham Payne suggests of the sharing programme they have worked “We managed to negotiate a good cost,” he that overall customer service improved as a so hard to establish. Now, says Payne, they says. “But more importantly, when you’re looking result of the project as the carriers learned share their plans and are more likely to work at having two vendors in a network, you’ve got how to manage such complex communications. on shared deployments than to go it alone. two lots of software, two lots of software testing, For its part, MBNL had to put in place The industry’s reaction to the MBNL project two lots of contracts to manage. Moving to one “totally robust performance management will be interesting to watch. And it will depend vendor paid back within about twelve months.” processes,” Payne says. “As soon as we did very much on the performance of the network Before such decisions can be made, however, a change on the network we made sure that in the months and years ahead. If successful partnering networks need to find out exactly there weren’t human errors. Immediately after it may well stand as a landmark project, one what they’ve got to put into the sharing pot. the change the network statistics and KPIS that many other carriers seek to replicate. Many operators, says Coleago’s Sharad Sharma, are checked and test calls are made. Then There is little time for the teams that worked don’t have a definitive record of their full range that site or change is monitored intensively on it to sit back and admire their handiwork, of network assets. Securing that information over the next r24 hours and checked for seven though. The merger of T-Mobile and Orange can be a substantial challenge in itself, he says. days.” It was a skill that MBNL improved as in the UK to form Everything Everywhere In one project he worked on, he says, “it took the project went on, Payne says. means that another, possibly even larger scale almost five months just to acquire that infor- While the parent operators were trying to transformation looms up ahead. mation, even though the company had done manage the expectations of their custom- As for the future of network sharing, NSN’s an asset management exercise in the past.” ers, Payne’s team were focused on the nuts Mark Neild reports that he sees pressure While all of this is going on, and as opera- and bolts. He describes MBNL as the most mounting for sharing projects in back office tors are trying to ensure that their individual- monumental project of his career and, with functions like billing systems, partly driven ity and integrity will remain after they have that in mind, says that it is difficult to pick by outsouring offerings from the likes of IBM. combined their networks, they also have to out the single biggest technical challenge that And one of his customers recently asked NSN think about the most important part of the he faced. But forced to choose he suggests to look at the opportunities for sharing to equation; their customers. Merging two ma- that getting the radio network controllers extend into the core network, he says. ture mobile networks is a hugely disruptive integrated to the parent companies’ core MBNL’s Graham Payne says he sees no rea- task and it is pretty much guaranteed that networks was the biggest headache. son why network sharing shouldn’t progress some of the pain is going to be passed on to The original plan was to do all of the cell sites to the stage where we have single network the end users. Sites need to be taken down for on a piecemeal basis, he says, but that proved markets for the majority of the network. hours at a time and the service they receive unworkable. With the different sites, the differ- Operators could differentiate on in-building is certain to be affected in a negative way ent RNCs and the different data centres it was solutions rather than on the macro network, before the planned outcome of an improved “like spaghetti junction out there,” he says. The he says, although others suggest that two network can be realised. network consolidation was taking time to come network markets are more likely. “This is the area that presents the biggest through, he says and the breakthrough came He offers one final word of caution, though, challenge,” says Ericsson’s Bradley Mead. “When when the team had all of the RNCs integrated, which is that network sharing is a one-way you’re changing things like this there is down and all of the sites onto the correct RNC. street. Once two operators have set off on time associated with it and with MBNL the focus But market circumstances weren’t helping, their journey they are stuck together, he says, has been on minimising that, by doing the work he says. “The thing that made it even more with no opportunities for a quickie divorce. in periods of low traffic, or out of hours,” he says. complicated was the traffic growth in mobile “It’s an awfully big step and, when you take Both 3UK and T-Mobile embarked on care- broadband that was happening in parallel it, you’re absolutely locked to one another. fully managed customer service programmes with us doing this consolidation,” he says. Because unbundling it is more difficult than ahead of the project in a bid to explain to their “That just trebled the complexity of the task.” merging it together.” Marry in haste, if you users what was happening, why it was happen- At times the project seemed like it might like, and you’ll repent at leisure. n

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22-26_MCI166.indd 26 04/08/2010 16:02 Untitled-2 1 03/08/2010 11:39 feature MeSSagIng

Something old, something new The range of messaging options available to the end user is growing fast, especially as messaging functionality has become integrated into applications like social networks. But rather than try to compete with the latest online service providers, perhaps operators should return to their roots and rediscover the potential of age-old technologies like SMS.

By Mike Hibberd

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he problems facing developed market of photos from mobile phones has, in many are not dedicated messaging apps,” says Somu mobile operators in 2010 have been markets, become commonplace. Crucially, on Kandukuri, director of product development for Twell documented. A powerful new wave high-end smartphones, the posting of images Openwave. “At the moment the one advantage of smart devices has stimulated uptake of to social networks like Facebook is increas- that the mobile operators have is reach. But capacity-hungry non-voice services among ingly being done without using the operator’s as soon as the reach of Facebook, for example, subscribers. Operators are running to keep messaging infrastructure. starts growing, it starts presenting a threat to up with the demands on their networks, Uploading images through a browser or mobile messaging.” working to deploy greater headroom and Facebook application involves a data session While this is by no means an urgent prob- greater throughput while over the top service rather than an MMS transfer, reflecting the lem for operators, it does illustrate that one providers are building relationships with beginnings of a shift to in-application mes- of their core service offerings—non voice mobile users and generating even more data saging. Any such messaging traffic cannot be messaging—is coming under threat from traffic for the operators to carry. measured by carriers, and is effectively beyond other players and other models. This isn’t Arguably the most frustrating element of this their control. On lower tier handsets, MMS and about carriers being outperformed in an area scenario for the carriers is that the combination SMS interfaces remain, of course, but handset to which they are newcomers, it’s about them of handset manufacturers, application develop- functionality spreads quicker down the peck- losing ground on their home turf. As mes- ers and OTT service providers have succeeded ing order with the release of every new model. saging evolves to become straight internet where the carriers were for so long unable to. “If you look at what people are doing with traffic, operators are inching ever closer to These issues are reflected in most areas things like Facebook, posting pictures and the unwelcome status of bit pipe provider. of an operator’s business, and messaging sharing them with their social group,” says Meanwhile, these are straitened times and is no exception. Operators—in all but a few Terry McCabe, CTO at messaging specialist operators’ investment strategies are tightly cases—have struggled to drive uptake of Airwide Solutions, “it’s what we were talking constrained. Some within the messaging picture messaging since MMS functionality about back in the days of the introduction sector suggest that the kind of investment was put into networks, for example. Figures of MMS. We talked about archiving and operators need to make in order to develop from Informa Telecoms and Media show that, the ability to open up your archive to other compelling new messaging applications that of the 95 mobile operators tracked worldwide people. We talked about this infrastructure will enable operators to retain a meaningful in 4Q09, 76 reported MMS usage of less than that would be created for a mobile-centric stake in the messaging space is being with- one message per month per user. community. Well, there is a community—it held as financial teams prioritise other invest- But with the advent of social network- just isn’t mobile-centric.” ments, like broadband network deployments. ing—shifting the focus from person-to-person “We do see that the trend is for messaging “It’s becoming more difficult for operators’ to person-to-application—the transmission to be embedded within applications which messaging departments to get funds to »

Mobile Communications International | First for news, best for business 29

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create new messaging services,” says Pamela on the German T-Mobile network are sending Clark-Dickson, senior analyst and messaging 2.2 times the number of SMS messages and 2.1 specialist at Informa Telecoms and Media. The times the number of MMS message as iPhone timing couldn’t be worse, says Clark-Dickson, owners who do not frequent social networks. as operators are realising that their core mes- Nonetheless, carriers need to act decisively saging revenue stream—generated by SMS—is to retain their stake in the messaging sector; now beginning to decline. “Operators have lived a challenge that is reflected across much of off SMS revenues for a long time in the mobile their business. In the view of Arjan Lasschuit, data space and they haven’t really done that director of product management in Mobile much to develop services around it,” she says. Messaging for Tekelec, they are doing just Speaking at Informa’s Global Messaging this, in a number of ways. Congress in June, Wolfgang Seibert, head of Operators are “taking control of the situation proposition implementation, products and by setting out a next generation messaging innovation at Deutsche Telekom confirmed roadmap,” says Lasschuit. Central to this, he that CAPEX and OPEX are being channelled says, is the GSMA – sponsored Rich Commu- to network build-out projects but explained nications Suite (RCS) initiative; an IMS-based that there yet further constraints on the de- solution that puts the network at the centre of velopment of new messaging services. a stable of evolved messaging and communica- Among these is the absence of additional tion services like enhanced address books, rich spend from the consumer base to justify in- call services enabling the transfer of different vestment, he said. Other familiar problems for content formats during calls and rich messag- Airwide’s Terry McCabe raises a more funda- operators include their inability to act with ing, which aims to integrate instant messaging mental objection to RCS; namely that it might pace and flexibility to emerging opportunities functionality into the mobile messaging experi- not make commercial sense. “It’s easy from a and the fact that they are not geared up to fail ence. He describes it having “an end goal which technological perspective to talk about con- quickly and cheaply, Seibert said. is what almost every user wants today. Chat and verging the messaging technologies, creating The situation is not unremittingly bleak, IM over the mobile network infrastructure.” a single unified client that brings together all though, and growth remains a feature of car- Carriers are also deploying social network of these things,” says McCabe, “but is it really rier messaging, both in terms of traffic and gateways, he says, again bringing control over addressing a user experience, need or desire? revenue. Global SMS revenues are forecast by the distribution of end user messaging into the And does it have any commercial value for Informa to grow from US$99.86bn in 2010 to network. Adding MMS and SMS functionality the operator?” he asks. “Where is the business US$118.32bn in 2014. Over the same period then enables them to offer the same functional- case that enables the operator to make the the share of global mobile messaging revenue ity to the majority of users that don’t have the investment that is required to support this?” accounted for by SMS is set to fall from 85 per highest end smartphones, he says. The alternative to trying to design an envi- cent to 79 per cent as more advanced services But operators have struggled in the recent ronment that puts the operator at the centre like MMS, mobile IM and mobile email gradu- past with strategies designed to control user of the messaging ecosystem as RCS does is, ally begin to generate more revenue. behaviour; the walled garden content model as Albrecht von der Recke, chief operating of- MMS is forecast to grow in revenue from being perhaps the best and most frequently ficer at Spanish MVNO fonYou suggests, is to US$6.4bn to US$9.66bn, mobile IM from cited example. And they have reaped the unwel- expose their assets to third party developers. US$2.65bn to US$6.5bn and mobile email from come rewards of trying to come late to various This is something with which operators are US$8.52bn to US$15.3bn over the same period. application-based parties. RCS could be too now beginning to grow more comfortable. And, even in developed markets where SMS little too late. FonYou offers its users an enhanced level of revenues are falling, growth is still forecast. “RCS mandates IMS as the basis for bring- services—a rich suite of its own—but based Almost two thirds of the 257 mobile opera- ing a lot of services together,” says Openwave’s purely on voice and SMS. Users are able to tors tracked by Informa in 4Q09 reported a Somu Kandukuri. “The key thing here is the manage voicemails, for example, as they might minimum ten per cent year-on-year growth timing. If you look at the functionality that do emails; forwarding them, archiving them, in SMS traffic. “The fact that these operators is mandated by RCS, there are a lot of free even posting them online. It does not plan to included those in the developed world as well applications that already do that. If we get replicate its MVNO model in other markets, as in emerging markets is significant,” says to a stage where everything is all-IP, the preferring instead to white label its service Clark-Dickson, “since it indicates continuing chances are a lot of these services will be for operators to launch as a retention tool demand for SMS among subscribers in mar- offered not over IMS and SIP but purely over under their own brand. kets where alternative messaging services are http,” he says. The firm’s host in Spain, Telefónica, offers us- available on both mobile and PC.” Arjan Lasschuit argues that subscribers will ers a maximum capacity of 15 voicemails, says And there is anecdotal evidence that in- find appeal in the fact that operators will manage von der Recke, and those messages are “trapped” application messaging is not necessarily the entire process behind the scenes in an RCS and unusable. “If you want to participate in cannibalising carrier messaging. Wolfgang environment, negating the need for the end user this social media phenomenon, you have to Seibert said at the Global Messaging Congress to engage in complicated set-up procedures but, expose these assets and give them to the users that iPhone-owning users of social networks as Kandukuri says, time is rattling on. so something can be done with them,” he says.

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28-31_MCI166.indd 30 04/08/2010 16:17 MeSSagIng feature

SMS can be brought out of its greyscale legacy environment and evolved into a more attractive, more flexible and more interactive messaging service.

One benefit of focusing on the facilitation account, says George, that 1,000 numbers of innovation around existing assets is that can be reallocated to customers as often the platform is available to all users in the as is desirable. Very few people have more case of a technology like SMS, and a very large than 1,000 contacts in their address book, proportion in terms of MMS. As Openwave’s he points out. Somu Kandukuri has it, “the one advantage The firm’s first launch was with Econet that the mobile operators still have from a Wireless in Lesotho, in September last year. messaging perspective is the reach and the In May this year it launched with Safaricom simplicity of those services.” in Kenya, which will evolve into a much SMS has gone largely unchanged since its larger deployment, says George. ForgetMeNot debut but, in recent years, threaded messaging enables email and all the branded instant has been the key innovation. Nokia had it some messaging services. It has a Facebook release years ago, says Informa’s Pamela Clark-Dickson in beta testing. “Your $20 handset becomes a “The paradox is that the operators are sell- but it was really the SMS interface on Apple’s unified messaging device,” says George. ing internet access but they haven’t worked iPhone that demonstrated just how much room While the service is aimed squarely at the out how to transform their business models for improvement remains with the service. The emerging markets, it is conceivably something to take advantage of the internet in the way kind of personalised services that fonYou is that would have appeal in developed markets. that the banking industry has, or the book trying to popularise can be applied to SMS as After all, high speed connectivity is patchy in publishing industry.” well; treating the messages as subscribers are even the most advanced mobile networks and The exposure of existing assets as an al- more used to treating emails. the low cost of SMS might enable carriers to ternative to building new ones in an attempt The enhanced capabilities of new handsets drive uptake of new services. to play catch-up to online service providers mean that SMS can be brought out of its SMS and MMS, the old workhorse and the is a strategy recommended by others as well greyscale legacy environment and evolved also-ran, are likely to be operational for many as von der Recke. MMS, the perennial disap- into a more attractive, more flexible and more years to come, says Pamela Clark-Dickson, pointment, could be successfully exploited if interactive messaging service. And it stays and they represent significant opportuni- operators were interested, says Airwide’s Terry on the carrier infrastructure, where it can be ties for operators. The penetration of SMS McCabe. The technology is particularly useful measured and billed for. in particular makes is a essential target for in the delivery of interactive mobile advertising And for those users who don’t have the lat- development, she says. campaigns, he says, and can be very effective est handsets, SMS represents an opportunity “Operators have other messaging services, at drawing the subscriber into a dialogue. for them to access more sophisticated services some of which have worked well and some of McCabe cites examples of campaigns despite the limitations of their device. So says which haven’t,” she says. But the one that has run by experimental MVNO Blyk, which at- Jeremy George, chief operating officer at For- worked consistently well, generating revenue tempted to build a business by subsidising getMeNot Africa. The most limited handsets and traffic, is SMS. “It has been in the market usage costs among its user niche of 16 – 24 tend to be in emerging markets and this is for a long time but I think perhaps this year year olds with multimedia advertising. Blyk where ForgetMeNot is targeting its solution, mobile operators are realising that it’s going foundered due to a lack of reach—a key adver- which enables users to interact with email to be important for them to focus more on tising metric—but a number of its campaigns and instant messages through simple SMS. SMS at the same time as they look at future were deemed extremely successful in terms In Africa 97 per cent of people do not have a messaging technologies.” of the level of interaction that was stimulated data connection, George says, and yet there is The message to operators is a familiar one: among the users. huge enthusiasm for internet-based services play to your strengths. Over the top service “That’s a technology that exists today and like social networking. The firm is allocated providers are innovating at a rate that, in most is in just about every network out there,” says up to 1,000 numbers by the network opera- spheres, is beyond the mobile operator’s reach. McCabe. “But it’s not opened up to aggrega- tor, which it uses to establish a dedicated But the carriers retain certain core skills and tors, or to advertising agencies or to any of the connection between the mobile user and the abilities, like the delivery of mobile messag- various organisations and entities that might user’s contacts’ email or IM addresses. So ing technologies, that could keep them in the wish to exploit it. It’s frustrating because whenever the user sends a message to this game for as long as possible. Nobody expects there are concrete cases where operators have new number, it appears as the relevant type SMS to be the long term future of messaging, lowered the tariffing [for MMS] and opened of message at the other end. and the shift of all messaging to IP traffic is up that access to a degree and generated a Because the number is used to create a seen as all but inevitable. For now, though, significant amount of traffic.” permanent connection with the contact’s there are still opportunities to be taken. n

Mobile Communications International | First for news, best for business 31

28-31_MCI166.indd 31 04/08/2010 16:17 the informer

WAC and JIL went up the hill…

The merging of two operator initiatives to develop application platforms should be sounding alarm bells. But does anyone really want to hear those bells ringing?

opular nursery rhymes often have quite is that it focuses on the lowest common gruesome origins and typically tell the denominator. Because it’s widget-based it’s not Green light fingered tale of some unfortunate character who targeted at smartphone users, but at the mass Everyone wants to be green, right? P It’s a positive thing. Good ideas get the meets a sticky end. Not that there’s anything market. gruesome about the origin of the Wholesale But here’s another problem. JIL was launched green light. Green is verdant, fertile Applications Community, otherwise known more than two years ago and has attracted and lush. Green is vigorous. Green is as the WAC, of course. But the Informer fears 9,000 developers with 8,000 widgets published environmentally friendly. the initiative might come to the platform. No figures Green is also envious and gullible. a cropper after recent are available for downloads While mobile phone recycling schemes developments. of those widgets. Apple’s have made much of their positive green Born in February at MWC App Store on the other credentials, they have also had negative (which, come to think of hand has attracted 43,000 influences, certainly here in the UK. Mobile it, and depending on your developers, with 236,000 phones stolen in the UK are almost always feelings for mammoth trade active applications and deactivated shortly after their theft, shows, might actually count more than five billion meaning that they can’t be used on any UK as a gruesome origin) the downloads since its launch network. alliance was designed to in July 2008. But recycling schemes ship large build an open platform To date, the only avenue quantities of the handsets they receive for delivering applications open to JIL app developers overseas to markets where the blocks to all mobile phone users has been Vodafone’s V360 on the phones do not have effect. These and this week announced Shop, which is only available schemes can also pay pretty good money plans to subsume the Joint on a limited number of for consumers’ old phones. The result? Innovation Lab (JIL) – an devices through eight of The ever inventive criminal underclass older but similar initiative. Vodafone’s subsidiaries in of this green and sceptred isle quickly The initial WAC Europe. Vodafone 360 has realised that the phones they steal can specification and components troubles of its own having be sold to recycling firms that then make of its SDK will be available in November and will only attracted 500,000 users and it was also a profit by effectively fencing them on to provide backwards compatibility for devices based recently revealed that the company has stopped other countries, often developing ones. upon the current JIL and BONDI specifications. selling the Samsung H1 and M1 devices, which The SDK is set to launch commercially by February are the only handsets to natively integrate V360. Not that they have been doing this 2011, allowing developers to create widgets that will Instead, Vodafone will focus on pushing 360 as wittingly, of course. They can’t help it if run on a wide range of devices and be sold on the a suite of services and applications, which looks people steal phones—and you don’t have application stores of a wide range of operators. like a mammoth task and smacks of the bad old to prove you bought the phone when you It all sounds so impressive. Or it would if this days of operator portals. send it off to them. It may never even have exact ecosystem hadn’t already been created The other thing is that most of the developers occurred to some of them that they were, on the Apple, Android, Blackberry and Symbian in question don’t even have the operators in some cases, receiving stolen goods. platforms with varying degrees of success, on their radar. They belong to the online and They’re just a bit green. putting WAC’s efforts months, if not years, behind desktop worlds in which the likes of Google Anyway, a new national database in the market leaders. Why do operator groups and Apple are iconic brands for whom they feel the UK should make it more difficult for persist in their bids to replicate the work of others inspired to create good stuff. Telcos are an alien the thieves to continue to profit. The to a lower standard? species as far as they are concerned. vast majority of UK handset recycling By the time this is all up and running in any And while these developers can work firms have signed up to a new scheme meaningful way, the vanguard will be in the wonders with native applications that run on whereby they must check all received almost invisible distance and new models will sophisticated smartphones, they may well phones against a database of those that be in development. Operators aren’t set up feel constrained by the limits of the widget have been stolen. Any that match have to to fail quickly and cheaply and so will always environment, which, let’s face it, is little more be handed in, and the thieves receive no have problems matching the innovation of than a website in a custom browser, and doesn’t bounty. specialists. give much scope for premium charging. Or perhaps the Informer is being too harsh. The hill that WAC and JIL are climbing could The differentiating element of this proposal turn out to be quite steep. n

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32_MCI166.indd 32 04/08/2010 16:18 Untitled-1 1 05/08/2010 10:28 HANDSET

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